Immigration, Immigration, Immigration

I work for a major news organization and often have heard the figure of 10 million illegal Mexicans. Unofficially, I have been quoted the number 20 to 25 million illegals, most of them not Mexican. From experience with the government, I would say these numbers are low. Why the focus on the Mexicans? They are far less alien than the Asians or Africans not to mention the Guatemalans. Explain?

Muy Smart Man

Dear MSM,

Trying to figure out how many illegal immigrants are in this country is like trying to determine who invented the margarita, or what happened to Carlos Mencia. The long-accepted figure was 12 million undocumented folks in this country, until the Great Recession hit and dropped the number to somewhere between 10 and 11 million. Of that figure, it's generally accepted that Mexicans make up between half and two-thirds of the figure. Further complicating the matter is that differing numbers get spat out by organizations with political agendas, whether left (Pew Hispanic Center), right (U.S. government), or pinche puto pendejo baboso (FAIR). My suggestion? Don't even care about how many mojados are in this country — just accept the Reconquista, and be at peace with America's new reality. Of course, America isn't, and that's why you see the obsession with Mexis instead of those rapacious Canadian illegals.

Dear Mexican,

It seems like all the discussion about Mexican immigration centers on "illegal," low-wage workers. But as part of NAFTA, many well-educated Mexicans have the right to work in the U.S. without restriction via the TN-1 visa. This sort of immigration seems to have no press, and a spin around Google doesn't show any web sites discussing this other than ones covering the mechanics of the process. Why isn't this kind of immigration more visible? Any sense of how big it is? Has it had an effect in Mexico, either in a brain drain to the U.S., or just in encouraging more people to go into the sciences because of the ability to work internationally? Are the Mexicans complaining we're stealing all their best people? (That's the secret plan, isn't it? We grab your land, then your people: soon all of Mexico will be ours!)

IT Gabacho

Dear Gabacho,

The number of Mexicans who have entered this country under a TN visa have increased dramatically, from 168 in 1997 to 3,376 in 2010, according to numbers kept by the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs. Mexico has a proud tech industry — the Mayans, after all, invented the concept of zero and were space travelers (and let's not even get into their scary-ass accurate calendar — and such opportunities will only increase as Mexico becomes more wired and less dependent on Carlos Slim for their tech needs. You don't hear about this type of migration because smart Mexicans don't exist in the American mind. And I wish the TN visa was the main reason for the Mexican brain drain, but a narco war will do that to a country.

PREORDER TACO USA! Gentle cabrones: My much-promised Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America, will finally hit bookstores April 10, but that doesn't mean you can't already order it (yes, grammar snobs: I just used a double-negative, but Mexican Spanish loves double-negatives the way we do cute second cousins). Place your order with your favorite local bookstore, your finer online retailers, your craftier piratas, but place it: my libro editor has already promised to deport me from the publishing industry if we don't sell enough copies! And stay tuned for book signing info!

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WOW! And illegal aliens and those who promote illegality call Americans who oppose illegal migration and the presence of illegal aliens in the US, "racist," "bigot," "xenophobe," and a variety of other undeserved insults! I think those labels can justly be applied to Gustavo Arellano,among others, on the basis of the content of this page. What would happen if an American wrote an article in which he called LaRaza a rotten, whorish, stupid, slimy, organization? More demonstrating in the streets, complete with screeching, wailing and children removed from school to participate in an event they do not understand? More demands by foreign nationals and agents of foreign powers to change our laws to accommodate their illegal preferences? Gutierrez, Grijalvo and their cohorts demanding a formal apology and a public whipping?

Next time I see an American called one of those insults merely on the strength of his opposition to illegal acts and the violation of the national sovereignty and security, economic and environmental well-being of the US, I'll refer the name-caller to this article. Yes, there are bigots of all kinds, on all sides. Arellano has identified himself as one of them. They should ALL be condemned.

Oh, and BTW, Americans don't want Mexican land - only the land that is legally and rightfully ours. And grassroots Americans don't recruit Mexicans, well-educated or otherwise, to come here. We resent the profiteers who do, and want to see them punished. But no one is coerced into coming here. Legally or illegally, Mexicans in this country come here voluntarily. Why don't you detail all the things about the Mexican government and living in Mexico that causes that?

Out of the 11 million, I'm curious how many were brought here as children through no fault of their own, and this is the only country they have ever known. Yet these poor bastards can't get a driver's license, can't go to college, and can't get a job by just going and applying for it and have to live under the shadows and wasting their life and potential away. There should be a difference between those who willingly came here illegally (although saving your family back home from starving isn't exactly a choice), and how many were brought up here as children.

I think the ones who were brought here as children need to get legal relief and be allowed to participate in the country that they have called home for most of their lives. Then figure out how to fix the rest of the situation. Pass the Dream Act.